The Carpenters’ Company of Philadelphia, a guild founded in 1724 to help its members develop architectural skills, and to aid their families in times of need, built carpenters’ Hall in 1770. Carpenters' Hall was just completed when, in September 1774, it found itself host to the First Continental Congress, which met to oppose British rule. Constructed by carpenters for carpenters, the Flemish bond brick pattern, cupola, and windows are almost flawless examples of Georgian architecture. The building is still owned by members of the Carpenters' Company. Carpenters’ Hall was also home to Franklin's Library Company, the American Philosophical Society, and the First and Second Banks of the United States. Before the Declaration of Independence, before the Constitution of the United States, delegates from 12 colonies (Georgia having abstained), met at Carpenters’ Hall in September 1774, as the First Continental Congress, where they voted to support a trade embargo against England, one of the first unified acts of defiance against King George III. The Second Continental Congress, however, transferred its sessions to the larger Pennsylvania State House in the spring of 1775, but Carpenters' Hall continued to be used by various political groups, and during the War for Independence, the Hall served as a hospital and an arsenal for American forces.